Two years had passed since my second test and the annihilation of the beast-kin village. I had returned to a satisfied Draena who could not be any more gleeful over my success. She congratulated me especially on my brutality, I guess it makes sense that a dragon take joy out of the villagers being burnt to death. I never got the sense that she was proud of me however, it seemed to be more along the lines of her perverse enjoyment of death.

Training was not put on hold, and there was no celebration of victory yet this was all obvious and expected. In fact we tripped the training routine, and here at the crux of these two years as I turned 18 I felt my speed was on par with Draena. As a dragon she had an unimaginable amount of strength which I could never compare but I believe if i were to drain the heart of a powerful enough creature I could perhaps beat her via speed. Unfortunately I knew that she held magic nearly on par with the gods and any true confrontation would result in my death because no matter how talented I was it was simply not possible for me to be that good without the consumption of a creature equal to Draena herself.

This did not mean that I had accepted her as my better, the cruel and cunning bitch was an enemy, I despised her for the years of hell I had gone through and I had been steadily planning for my vengeance. The entire plan revolved around my new skills with blood magic. I had been training in private and never once showed her my mastery of the skill or that I was even capable of doing it at all. When I had reported the details of my second test I had simply mentioned a group of vulgar men had attacked me out of lust and all died. She could sense if I was lying or not hence I choose to tell the truth only not the entire truth so that nothing would be suspected.

In fact my skills had progressed so far that I could easily use my blood to create a sword and cover my body in a blood barrier. More than any other magic; blood magic gave me a feeling of rightness. It was likely due to my heritage but I believe this is a skill that was meant to be used by the Sangair. it personified everything my people are. So with this skill I devised a plot to rid myself of my ‘mistress.’

I knew soon we would have to prepare for my third test. I had no idea what she would plan for such an event as I had annihilated a village, assassinated an elder. What additional powers could she have planned for me to gain. I decided that I would not proceed with my plan until I learned if this test would benefit me enough for a delay. The day had finally came as I was reading a book on the 8 heroes Draena owned she came to me.

“It’s time for your next test little pet, this one should be your last if done well enough.” “What is it you would have me do Mistress?”

“Your tasks before have not been challenging, one was to gain your magic and the next to make sure I bred you properly as a cruel pet. This test will verify if you are strong enough to have your leash extended. The dragons have only a single enemy worthy to be titled our nemesis, the phoenix. As it stands Fiera the queen of the phoenix has recently sent her only young out for the coming of age ceremony. Fiera herself is near my level of strength so I imagine her son to be more powerful than yourself. Your duty will be to kill her son, Zarkon.”

To say I was ecstatic would be an understatement. A phoenix was known for their speed. While not as powerful as a dragon in pure force they were beings of agility and great fire magic. Eating the heart of Zarkon would give me the boost I needed to finalize my plans against Draena. With an ever rising excitement in my heart I set out from the residence for one final mission.

Exiting the cave I found myself not within the forest I had previously entered but a desert wasteland. My previous belief that the door itself was hidden by illusion magic was shattered as I realized that the exit could only be made using one type of magic which had been long said to be only legend. It was spacial magic. The ability to summon the void and create new dimensions and portals. This brought a hole new level of understanding as to way Draena had never seemed to think I had the slightest chance of escape; for me as I was it was simply impossible. The desire for her blood and heart grew exponentially within me at this revelation. My thoughts were interrupted as I smelt power not but a couple miles away from where I stood. Huge power like I had never felt, power that all of my previous conquests combined could not compare to. This must be Zarkon and my final test.

Using my speed I vanished, a blur to the eyes of most common beings and appeared a couple hundred yards away from the source of power to witness a young man appearing in his mid 20’s. He stood about 6’5 with red hair highlighted with strands of shining gold like a powerful flame. Fire shot from his hands and burning to crisp the pack of large sand wolves which were to arrogant to realize that they should not had picked a fight with this apex predator. Surrounding Zarkon were the disfigured corpses of four demonic scorpions which were known for their ferocious strength and steel like natural defenses. However this was all the insight I would be able to gain from my new foe for as soon as the wolves were dead he turned straight towards my direction and with a voice carried upon the wind demanded ‘Who are you, I sense your presence now show yourself.’

“Forgive me for hiding, I simply was curious as to what caused such an immense wave of power that I could feel it from miles away. My name is Jade, may I ask who you are?”

“Ahh, a beautiful woman I see, my name is Zarkon. Perhaps you would bless me with your company for a short while? It has been so long since I have had the pleasure of such… beauty.”

It was almost tempting. I seem to be woman with a weakness for beautiful eyes and this man had the second most beautiful eyes I had seen. Scorching red and gold that danced as if they were flames dancing upon the sun itself. Perhaps they were knowing what he was. But alas they were simply the second best, and my revenge was far more important than such luxuries. Yet this man I would fight head on as a test of my skills and to respect his strength. I held no grudge against his kind, in fact after what I had heard about the damage his kind had caused to the dragons and any race which bothered them I almost felt pity for what I was about to do.

“I feel I must unfortunately decline. It seems that we will not be able to part on amicable terms. You see I find myself in need of the strength to kill a dragon, more specifically the queen herself. For this I will need to defeat you. I hold no grudge against your kind, in fact I admire you greatly. But it seems that my selfishness is far greater. Prepare yourself.”

“A pity such a beauty need die here then.” With a sigh full of clear regret he looked straight at me and as my senses screamed danger I lunged away and to the side as a ball of fire hotter than any I had ever experienced flew by me with not an inch to spare. I pricked my finger and shot four arrows of blood towards him at lightning fast speeds to which a wall of fire blocked their advance and they sizzled away.

Drawing my sword I lunged towards at the height of my speed and made a slash which he lept back and avoided. His speed was everything I had expected from a phoenix and more. Another slash diagonally was dodged this time he only managed to avoid being cut by a hair’s breadth and withdrew a blade from his side. ‘It appears I cannot take this fight lightly, stunning and deadly ah what a woman indeed.’

Now smiling Zarkon thrust his blade towards my neck and I parried but it was slow and a thin line of blood began flowing from the side of my neck. Normally I would resort to fire but against this man I knew it would do me no good, we were in the desert so I gathered earth and shot spikes from the ground in a circle using his position as the center. He jumped towards the sky and to my amazement sprouted wings of pure flame from his back as he dodged my magic. He was faster and stronger than myself with the ability to fly this was clearly not a battle in my favor. But giving up, failure itself was not an option. If I did not gain his power I would die either way. All I could do was plan and give everything I have to this battle.

Shooting from the sky with a boom Zarkon slashed with his sword now covered in flames and I flipped backwards to avoid the strike to return with a lunge of my own. My mithril blade was protected from the heat of his fire as he parried. As I lunged again I used my sword to launch another arrow at his heart in a surprise attack which caught him in his shoulder. Blood shot out of his wound but the damage was quickly sealed as the flames cauterized the deep gash. In revenge for my actions lances of fire rained down from the sky. I was extremely skilled in fire but his masterful handing and the power behind each lance was again phenomenal. I summoned a barrier of water in a dome and covered myself in blood armor to avoid the attacks and was still thrown twenty feet away landing on my back in the dirt. Again my honed senses warned me of the coming danger and I rolled to barely avoid the sword being plunged into my head. Without a second to spare I again shot an earth spike piercing his leg rendering a scream of pain. Hopping up to see him fall to a knee and temporarily distracted I sung my blade and severed his legs from his thighs.

He was not dead, as to be expected of someone so powerful I used this chance to give my thanks “I swear to you this Zarkon son of Fiera, the power granted from your death will be the end of Dragon Queen Draena. With the sacrifice of your life will mean an end to your greatest foe and never again will I harm another of your kind. This I vow.”

His reply was weak, riddled with pain he spoke his final words ‘Than I forgive you my death knowing this. I will hold you to your oath and go in peace.’ Before his last breath I plunged my hand into his chest and tore out his heart. Still full of power I devoured it in its entirety. Never before had I felt such power. The ripples of the magic must have been felt for a hundred miles as it surged through me. Flames shot out and engulfed my entire body. Pain, the likes of which I had never experienced coursed through my body and despite my greatest efforts a scream escaped my lips as my consciousness faded.

I awoke with a start. I felt amazing, a hundred times stronger than I had ever been, as if I was a goddess and invincible. Dashing away my speed was incompatible to my previous abilities and the pool of magic within myself seemed to now be unlimited. With the thought of magic I summoned flames to me and they came, dancing around me with joy as if I were their beloved queen. Then I noticed a strange feeling on my back and noticed wings. They were beautiful and made of pure fire. Two grand wings with spanned five feet matching my proportions perfectly. The feeling was foreign like new limbs but I seemed to instinctively know how to use them so I thrust into the sky feeling joy and freedom for the first time in a decade.

As my excitement died down and mind calmed I smirked. I had a vow to uphold, and now I knew my plan would work. Dear Draena, my vile mistress, I would not honor you with a fair fight, your demise was upon you It was time, and I was ready.